Persinger and Plys outshoot Team Sweden in Olympic mixed doubles curling

After an up-and-down first day on the ice that saw Alaskan Vicky Persinger and teammate Chris Plys go 1-2 in Olympic mixed doubles curling, the pair found their form and defeated Sweden 8-7 in a game that took an extra end to settle.

The game opened similar to previous U.S. matches in the Olympic round-robin, with the U.S. and Sweden trading one-point ends through the first half of the game, leaving the score tied at 2-2 after four ends.

[Related: I used to curl with Alaska’s Olympians. Here’s what I’ll be thinking about as I watch them compete in Beijing.]

In the second half, the drama cranked up, as did the shotmaking by both sides. In the sixth end, Sweden leveraged its “power play” end – an option unique to mixed doubles in curling – to shake up the placement of the pre-placed stones that start on the ice at the beginning of each end. That move paid off, as Sweden scored three points and took a 5-4 lead with two ends remaining. Not to be outdone, the U.S. called its own power play end immediately afterward, banking three points on a solid takeout by Persinger.

In the eighth end, Sweden put the U.S. in a jam by piling several rocks close to the “button” at the center of the rings, and the Americans’ position was exacerbated by time being almost up. Persinger made a masterful hit-and-roll that denied the Swedes the opportunity to win the game outright, but Almida De Val and teammate Oskar Ericsson scored two points, tying the game and sending it to an extra end.

The ninth, “extra” end was Plys’ time to shine. The Swedish side was able to put two rocks into the house early that threatened to make the U.S. task of scoring far more difficult. But Plys cleared both and a Norwegian guard with a laser-accurate, peel-weight takeout that left Team Sweden deflated and with few options for stealing a point and the win. Ultimately, De Val missed her final takeout of the game, and the U.S. triumphed without the need for Persinger to throw her last stone.

The win improved the U.S. record in round-robin play to 2-2, moving Persinger and Plys into a fifth-place tie in the standings with China and the Czech Republic. Team USA still has work to do in order to qualify for the semifinals — only the top four teams advance from the round-robin. But they’re in far better shape to do so, both in terms of their record and the mental boost gained from another win, than they were 24 hours ago.